The Coach Mack controversy

Last week Thursday (7/30/09), University of Hawaii football coach Gregg McMackin (aka Coach Mack) got into a major controversy.


Coach Mack was in Salt Lake City for the WAC Football Media Preview, where the football coaches from schools within the Western Athletic Conferences talk to a group of reporters about the upcoming football season.


Coach Mack was asked about last year's Hawaii Bowl in which Hawaii lost to Notre Dame.


Coach Mack talked about the banquet a few days before the Hawaii Bowl. The Hawaii guys did the ha'a chant. Then Notre Dame guys did their own chant.


Coach Mack referred to the Notre Dame's chant as a "faggot dance".

Things went downhill from there!

Coach Mack tried to persuade the reporters there to not report what he just said!

But being that the press conference included reporters covering the rival schools, that just wasn't going to happen!


The next day, Coach Mack came back to Hawaii and met with UH officials! He was suspended for 30 days (though in this case, the suspension meant he could coach in those days, but just not get paid for it), and ordered to make public service announcements on tolerance!


He had a 7% pay cut, but that was because a few days before his controversial remark, he already publicly stated that he was willing to take a pay cut to help the UH athletic department get through the financial crisis.

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/20090729_McMackins_OK_with_salary_cut.html (notice this was printed THE DAY BEFORE his controversial remark)


Coach Mack publicly and tearfully apologized for his controversial taunt.

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/20090801_Mack_apologizes_accepts_punishment.html

"I'm very pained and disappointed in myself and I hope to make up for some of the pain," McMackin said between ragged breaths and after wiping away tears. "I made a mistake. Now I have to show the leadership in dealing with both the football program and building respect for all people in our community."

Now for the commentary


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1) This situation was a surprise to most of us in Hawaii!


Coach Mack had an image of being a nice guy who would never hurt anyone! He had an easy-going personality, liked to greet people, and is known to care about his players!


Sure, he could get mad if his players are slacking off, but he was NOTHING like Bobby Knight!

Nobody really expected Coach Mack to even use the words "faggot dance".


2) Now, Coach Mack was just joking when referring to Notre Dame's chant as a "faggot dance". It wasn't Coach Mack's intention to insult or offend!


However, as Coach Mack himself would agree, that was totally unprofessional.

Here's what David Shapiro said on this issue!

http://volcanicash.honadvblogs.com/2009/08/05/a-bumpy-path-to-tolerance/

The furor over prejudiced gaffes such as those made by Greg McMackin and Rex Johnson inevitably cause hand-wringing in some quarters that we've become overly sensitive, too politically correct and unable to take a joke anymore.

I'm not going to get into an argument about things people say in their personal communications that reveal their intolerance, ignorance and poor manners.

But expressions of bigotry by state officials in their official capacity are never acceptable, and the punishment must be as harsh as necessary to get the point across.

3) As Mr Shapiro mentioned, anytime someones negative things about a racial group or homosexuals, some losers will say stuff like "it's just words", "they're overly sensitive", "can't you take a joke", blah, blah, blah!


Would any of you call your boss a "faggot"? You'll probably join the unemployment lines if you done that!

Would any of you call your mom a "whore"? She'll probably slap you, or at least yell at you!

Words either mean something or mean nothing!


Those who say stuff like "it's just words", "you're overly sensitive", "can't take a joke", etc. are bullies who can't handle having their victims stand up for themselves! They're like the guy who punches his victim, then immediately runs away like a coward!

Then there are those losers who say "my parents taught me not to get upset when someone calls me names!" Those parents are either abusive (ie. use insults on their children, yet don't like it when they react to those insults) over overly permissive ( ie. allowing their children to say and do whatever without punishing them).

Those are the most dangerous parents of all!

Parents are supposed to tell their kids "Stand up for yourself, take no crap from others!" Or as my former boss, Mr. Vince of Palama Settlement used to tell me "handle it on your level 1st, then, if it still doesn't get resolved, talk to me". Mr Vince also taught me to be stern, but also stay calm at the same time!

I wish my parents taught me that earlier in life!

4) Then off course, another argument that pops up when a public figure makes insulting remarks about a racial group or homosexuals is "how dare you criticize that guy, you ain't perfect, you probably said stuff like that before!"


One of the lamest arguments ever!

I used to make homophobic comments when I was younger! (which I totally regret now) Does this mean, if my future children or my future students or my future employees make those same homophobic remarks, I should just let them get away with it?

Your parents probably scolded you for mistakes they used to make! Your teachers probably scolded you for the mistakes they used to make! Your bosses probably scolded you for the mistakes they used to make! They do it because they now know better and they want to know better faster than they did!

What's the point of being a parent/teacher/boss if you're going to let your subordinates get away with the same mistakes you used to make?


We all made mistakes! But mature people do 2 things
NUMBER ONE) stop making those same mistakes
NUMBER TWO) correct others who make the same mistakes you used to make!

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If you don't do Number ONE, but criticize those who make the mistakes you continue to make, then that's hypocrisy! So it's important to do STOP making those mistakes!


5) This brings up another issue that happened in 2000!

In the summer of 2000 (between my 1st & 2nd year @ UH), the UH Athletic Department changed the logo from the Rainbow to the tiki-styled H-symbol.
The name of the football teams went from Rainbows to Warriors.
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2000/07/27/sports/story1.html

UH officially unveiled the not-so-secret secret design yesterday before about 500 invited guests at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The distinctive logo is the flagship of the athletic department's unified direction mandated by former university president Kenneth Mortimer. But, a Rainbow selection of familiar team nicknames remain.

While the football team is now officially the Warriors, the other sports' coaches are free to choose from Rainbow Warriors, Warriors, Rainbows, Rainbow Wahine and Wahine.

The change of the name and the logo was June Jone's idea, but it had support of then-Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida!

While the name Warriors sound more tougher than Rainbows, that's not the only reason for the change.

The real reason was expressed by Yoshida, and gotten controversy!

http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2003/12/11/Sports/Whats.In.A.Nickname.At.UhManoa-2801080.shtml

During the unveiling of the new "H" logo three years ago, then-athletic director Hugh Yoshida said: "That (rainbow) logo really put a stigma on our program at times, in regards to its part of the gay community, their flags and so forth. Some of the student athletes had some feelings in regards to that."

Associate women's volleyball coach Charlie Wade was quoted in an article published by OutSports.com as saying, "I can't be certain, but I think that the rainbow had something to do with a flight attendant giving me his phone number one time."

(skipped paragraphs)

Four years ago, when they were the "Rainbows," football players complained that they were sometimes taunted by opponents for having a "gay" nickname. The stereotypical male athlete is supposed to be someone who is rugged, tough and strong. I guess "Rainbows" just didn't do it for them.

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Personally, I never had a problem with either the UH Rainbow symbol or the tiki-style H-symbol!

However, the logo change happened unannounced and without public input, that it caught many Hawaii people off guard!

This led to the feud between local news anchor Joe Moore and former UH football coach June Jones!


http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Oct/31/op/FP610310313.html (scroll down to the 7th letter, which is titled "JONES BEARS BLAME FOR DISCONNECT WITH FANS")


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So why were the UH sports teams called the "Rainbows" in the first place.

The name came in the 1920's, DECADES before the gay-liberation movement decided it was a good idea to adapt their own rainbow symbol!

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/07/17/sports/simpson.html

It happened long ago, in 1923 to be exact. Hawaii's Fighting Deans staged an epic 7-0 upset of Oregon State, and a rainbow appeared over the field. It must have looked, it must have felt, much the way it did that December day last year when a brilliant arc, a perfect rainbow materialized in the Aloha Stadium sky after Hawaii had punted BYU.

And in those early days, every time there was a rainbow, the team won. Every time there was a rainbow in the valley, the team won.

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The rainbow was a good luck symbol for the UH teams, it had NOTHING to do with the gay-liberation movement!

In fact, even after the name change, having a rainbow appear over Aloha Stadium was a sign UH was going to win.

I remember in 2004 (4 years after the logo change) I saw a rainbow over Aloha Stadium when UH played Michigan State. UH won!

The following year (2005) , I saw no rainbow over Aloha Stadium when UH played Fresno State. UH lost.

Coincidence?
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Now back to "Rainbows being gay". The local guys on the team KNOW that Rainbows had NOTHING to do with the gay-liberation movement.

However, on the continental USA, people are indoctrinated to associate the rainbow with "gays".

So UH teams were taunted about being "rainbows" by their opponent's players and fans!

And it made it harder to UH to recruit players from the mainland. After all, why be a "rainbow" when you can go to Fresno State and be a bulldog, or go to Nevada to be a part of the wolfpack or go to Boise State and be a bronco!

But now that UH is now Warriors and does the ha'a chant, there's less stigma about being recruited by UH!

Meanwhile, other UH teams still have Rainbows in their names. The men's basketball team calls themselves Rainbow Warriors and the women's teams call themselves Rainbow Wahine!

6) Whatever the UH teams are called, I wish them all luck this coming school year, and hopefully, we all learned a lesson about respect for others!

Coming soon

My commentary on the Coach Mack controversy!

I got a lot to say on this issue, but not enough time to blog it all out!

In memory of Tatiana Beasley

I've only been a substitute teacher for 4 years, and already one of my former students has died!

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/20090722_Vocal_Beasley_left_lasting_impression.html

I only met Tatiana Beasley once.

This was during that one time I was called to sub @ Roosevelt High School. I was there for Mr. Kanno, a health/PE teacher.

Tatiana Beasley was in the weight training class and she helped me with recording the attendance (ie. noting down who's absent, etc. ).

I could already sense she was probably on one of the school's sports teams. About a few weeks later, the local newspapers had an article about her being a star on the school's girls basketball team!

Unfortunately, Beasley died earlier this month in a car accident!

You never know when it's all going to end!

Condolences to the friends & family of Ms Beasley.

affirmative action debate

Salon had an article a few weeks back on the Sotomayor's confirmation hearings and I was debating on it's comments thread!

Article here
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/17/ricci/index.html

Comment thread here
http://letters.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/17/ricci/view/?show=all


Well, the thing about Salon's comment thread is ... someone can respond to you, and sometimes when you finally see their responses, the comment thread is closed, giving your opponents a false sense of victory, when their only victory is their timing, not their ideas!

Here I demolish the arguments of a commenter called "Jomama"

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What if you, a non-white male with mediocre test scores- acceptable scores, but nothing to write home about- applied to a different college and did not gain admission, while 15-20 of your white male friends with LOWER scores than you did get accepted? Would you still be singing the anti AA blues?

My whole point wasn't to "brag" about my test scores, just to say I got into my university by meeting the standards!

I'm for (Oh my God ... NO!) having all students gain acceptance into college following the same standards!

Jim Crow didn't allow for that, NEITHER does Affirmative Action!

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What if you had to take a test that was structured around cultural questions on something you knew absolutely nothing about, like Susan's wine test, west coast vs. east coast rappers, the brand names in a high end clothing store, whatever... You wouldn't cry foul?

LAMEST ARGUMENT EVER!

The SAT tests I took a decade ago already had reading comprehension questions on Black History and Latino culture!

I don't think it changed since. Or if it did, they probably added questions on Middle Eastern culture, Asian-American history, etc.

By the way, the reading comprehension section of the SAT is about how well you understood what you just read. If there's a paragraph about sharks and the SAT is asking you questions about it, IT IS NOT TESTING WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT SHARKS! It is testing if you understood what the author said about sharks!

The Radical Left rhetoric of "SAT is culturally bias" is evidence-free rhetoric! They're starting to remind me of those Radical Right losers complaining about Obama's birth certificate!

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Yes, there are problems with AA. But discrimination still exists.

Yet Jomama didn't explain what he/she thinks the problems with AA is! Jomama is too busy denouncing me with lame arguments!

I never said "discrimination doesn't exist"! Only those who never read my blog can accuse me of thinking that way!

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What is wrong with at the very least, attempting to make sure that everybody is given a level playing field?

I am attempting to give everyone a level playing field!

It's the Jim Crow and the Affirmative Action that doesn't give people a level playing field!

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Sounds like you are firmly in that Republican pull yourself up by your bootstraps crowd. Which would be fine in a world where we all had the same set of boots, or at least a set of boots to start with.

I NEVER even used the words "bootstraps"! And I'm pro-abortion, for legalizing same-sex marriage, for ending the militarized war on drugs, and for sex-ed! That's NOT Republican!

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PART TWO

Another lame debater, this one named thisrainyanorak

Others have deconstructed your inane and intellectually dishonest NBA analogy that conveniently disregards the FACT that Blacks were actively discriminated against and excluded from NBA teams for decades so I won't go over that ground

That policy ended in 1950! NONE of the current NBA players were born yet! Most of their parents weren't even born yet! My parents weren't even born yet! You can come out of your time-warp now!


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I think affirmative action is very flawed and there are reasonable arguments for dismantling it

And you never said a single one of them! You are an AA supporter! You can come out of the closet now!
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Many college administrations have determined that having a racially diverse campus is important and the Supreme Court agrees that this is a "compelling interest."

That's why I brought up the NBA example in the 1st place!

The AA supporters complain that there's "too many Asians in our colleges, we need lowered standards for African-American and Latino students"

If the AA crowd had any sense of consistency, they'll demand the NBA to give lowered standards to Latino and Asian ballplayers!

The real humane standard is for colleges and NBA teams to (Oh my God... NO!) get the most qualified individuals even if it doesn't satisfy the diversity bean-counters of the AA crowd!

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Egregiously lowered standards are the bastion of legacy and athletic-based based admissions. Should those be outlawed too?

YES and YES!

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Oh, and pompously and repeatedly pointing out that you were able to meet a laughably low admission standard and comparing yourself to favorably to others who may not have IS "bragging" and your repeated denials of that don't say much about your self-awareness.

You're missing my point! My point is if me (an under-represented minority ) can get into a college of my choice following the same standards of European-Americans and Asian-Americans so can others! What's wrong with saying that?

Education: Public vs Private

Earlier this month, the Honolulu Star Bulletin had an interview with UH professor Ann Bayer. Bayer wrote a book "Going Against the Grain: When Professionals in Hawai'i Choose Public Schools Instead of Private Schools"


http://www.starbulletin.com/editorials/20090719_Going_public.html

From that article

As part of her research, Bayer, a professor and chairwoman in the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Hawaii, interviewed dozens of parents — doctors, lawyers, college professors, military officers and business executives — who could afford to pay private-school tuition but resisted the peer pressure to do so.
Instead they enrolled their children in Hawaii public schools and ended up being satisfied with the quality and scope of the academic and extracurricular activities, the condition of the facilities and the safety of the campuses. "They didn't feel like they were sacrificing their children for some greater cause. They were simply satisfied with the overall quality of the experience," said Bayer. "Their kids went on to the same colleges as their friends who had gone to private school."

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I'm a public school graduate! I remember joking around about how private school students are "overly sheltered"! ( I know, an exxagarated stereotype. Sorry for offending private school alumni!)

I have aligned myself with libertarians on many issues! Many libertarians hate the public school system! But I am a public school grad, and a public school employee!

So where do I stand?


Here's what I wrote to Dr. Ann Bayer

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Hi Dr. Bayer,
I read the article about your book in yesterday's edition of the Honolulu Star Bulletin. It really hit home with me.

I am a graduate of McKinley High School, which has been labeled a "dropout factory".
I do think McKinley High School does a GREAT job with well-motivated students. Many do well in math meets and do go on to top-notch universities!

However, the great flaw of McKinley High School when I was there (late 1990's) was that it didn't do well with un-motivated students! Many of those students were either gang-affiliated, gang wanabees or just didn't care!

If we want to talk about the failures of the public education system, it has ALMOST NOTHING to do with well-motivated students. It is the failure of the system to make un-motivated students into well-motivated students!
I do currently work as a substitute teacher in various schools. I did work at Central Middle School as a substitute a few years ago! That school had a reputation for being "rough", "dangerous" and "not being a good school". However, that school did have modernized computer labs, air conditioned classrooms and plenty of EAs. Also, not everyone was a victim or a predator! Some are well-adjusted students headed for success!

While I haven't been back to that school in a while (due to the difference of philosophy between me and it's administration under Brian Mizuguchi) if someone ask if I'll send my future children there, I'll tell them "I 'll give it a year's chance. If it goes well, I'll continue, if not, I'll find another school".

Another flaw of the public education system is the "one-size-fits-all-for-all-students-in-the-district". That's NOT true! Some students will do well in a large public school. Other students would've been better off in a charter school, alternative school, private school, homeschool, etc."
As for vouchers, I think government-funded vouchers would too much of a hassle politically, but I am in a favor of privately funded vouchers for those children who are struggling in their district public school and might be better off in a school like (for example, ASSETS or Academy of the Pacific), or any private school!

So I am in favor of school choice, NOT because "public schools are always bad" but parents need more choices in where to send their kids. If their public school works well with that student, GOOD! If not, let the parent choose another school!

Anyways, I wrote about "dropout factory" issue on my blog a few years back and you can check it out at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-graduated-from-dropout-factory.html

If time permitting, let me know what you think about what I wrote in that blog post!

Anyways, in case you want to write another book or article on this issue, feel free to quote ANYTHING I wrote in this e-mail or on my blog-post linked above!

Pablo Wegesend

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I hope that explains what I think about the government education system and school choice!

Race Quotas are NOT the answer!

What is discrimination?

Usually, discrimination is when someone is rejected due to their race/gender/ religion/ sexual orientation / etc.

It will be employers refusing to hire members of certain races!

It would be swimming club kicking out a group of kids from a summer program because many of those kids are African-Americans. (This happened in Philadelphia recently http://www.philly.com/philly/news/50346612.html )

It would be people threatening Micronesians with knives, fireworks and gasoline in public housing projects ( as mentioned in Honolulu Weekly) http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2009/02/legal-aliens/

It would be refusing to allow homosexuals to join the US military

It would be refusing to hire qualified females to work in traditionally male work environments!

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However, some claim "if the US has 12% African-Americans, 13% Latinos", then every work environment, every college, etc has to have close to 12% African-American, 13% Latinos! Otherwise, it would be "racist".

But it's not that simple!

National Hockey League (NHL) is mostly Caucasians. National Basketball Association (NBA) is mostly African-Americans.

You'll hardly see that many Mexican-Americans.

So what to do?

Do we force hockey teams to take in lesser qualified Mexican-Americans in place of a better qualified European-Canadian ? Do we force basketball teams to take in lesser qualified Mexican-Americans in place of a better qualified African-American!

Or should Mexican-American athletes step up their game and earn their respect on the hockey rink or basketball court?

Look at Mark Sanchez, a Mexican-American football player! He was a quarterback for the Univesity of Southern California, and he has been drafted by the New York Jets earlier this year!

Sanchez wasn't drafted to fulfill a race quota! He was drafted because he was proven to succeed at the college level and has the potential to do the same in the pros!

So, in order to get more Mexican-Americans in the NBA, NHL or the NFL, we don't need quotas! We need more Mexican-Americans to step up their game!

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But what about colleges!

After the end of Affirmative Action in California, the number of Asians went up! Some are claiming "too many Asians in California colleges"

From Ward Connerly

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2009/06/by_ward_connerly_about_five.html

About five years ago, shortly before my term ended as a Regent of the University of California (UC), I was having a casual conversation with a very high-ranking UC administrator about a proposal that he was developing to increase "diversity" at UC in a manner that would comply with the dictates of California's Constitution and the prohibition against race, gender and ethnic preferences.

As I listened to his proposal, I asked him why he considered it important to tinker with admissions instead of just letting the chips fall where they may. In an unguarded moment, he told me that unless the university took steps to "guide" admissions decisions, UC would be dominated by Asians. When I asked, "What would be wrong with that?" I got an answer that speaks volumes about the underlying philosophy at many universities with regard to Asian enrollment.

The UC administrator told me that Asians are "too dull - they study, study, study." He then said, "If you ever say I said this, I will have to deny it." I won't betray the individual's anonymity because to do so would put him in a world of trouble - and he would, indeed, deny having said it. Yet, it is time to confront the not-so-subtle hand of discrimination against Asians that masquerades as "building diversity" at many elite college campuses.

It is a mistake to believe that all forms of discrimination flow from hate and inherently foul motives. Certainly, the desire to attract more black students to a campus that is lacking in blacks is not an evil aspiration; however, when it becomes necessary to reject those who "study, study, study" in order to admit those who study insufficiently, then the mission to include more blacks becomes a much more ominous one.

If you didn't know, Mr. Connerly is an African-American! But he wants African-American students to enter college by (gasp) reach the same standards as Asian-American students!

For this, Connerly has been slandered as an "Uncle Tom" , "race traitor" and "being with the KKK"

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As for the New Haven Fire Department case that got Judge Sotomayor controversy.

The fire department requires those who want a promotion to captain to pass a written test!

However, since the applicants who passed were mostly European-Americans and Latinos, and those who flunked were mostly African-Americans, the claim was that those tests were "racist"

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/mcwhorter/archive/2009/04/22/thinking-about-ricci-when-black-people-don-t-perform-as-well-on-standardized-tests-what-should-be-done.aspx

From John McWhorter (a lingustics expert of African-American ancestry)

People like Du Bois did not dedicate their lives to paving the way for black people to be exempt from tests. Sure, the tests may not correlate perfectly with firefighters' duties. But which falls more into the spirit of black uplift that you could explain to a foreigner in less than three minutes: teaching black candidates how to show what they are made of despite obstacles, or banning a test of mental agility as inappropriate to impose on black candidates?

So what to do? STEP YOUR GAME UP!

Failing a test doesn't make the test racist! Otherwise, the game of hockey or basketball would be "racist"!
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To those who scream "if it wasn't for Affirmative Action, you wouldn't be allowed to attend college"

EXCUSE ME?

My college (University of Hawaii) was admitting African-Americans (and other non-whites) before Affirmative Action came into place! In fact, Barack Obama Sr. (the president's dad) was attending that same college when the civil rights movement was going on in the South! While he was the 1st UH student straight out of Africa, they already had a few African-Americans way before that!

In fact, Alice Ball got a masters in chemistry @ UH in 1915! This was when many mainland colleges would've rejected her based only on race!

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~takara/alice_ball.htm


Also, when I entered UH, the college required it's applicants coming out of high school to have a 2.8 GPA, 510 SAT score on verbals, and a 510 SAT score on math!

I had a 3.3 GPA, 580 on verbal, 580 on math! I didn't need quotas or lowered standards to get into UH!

I'm not mentioning my GPA and SATs to brag. Other students had higher GPAs and SATs than me! I mentioned it as proof that I got into UH with the same standards as its European-American and Asian-American students!

Criticizing quotas doesn't mean "denying discrimination exists". How many of my critics spent time thinking how it's like to be the only Latino in a class full of Asians and Pacific Islanders? How's that for being an "outsider"?

That didn't stop me from meeting the same standards as everyone else to get into UH!

If Mark Sanchez, Alice Ball, Yao Ming, and other under-represented minorities could do it, why not you?

Iran and North Korea

Remember back in 2001 when President George W Bush called the leaders of Iraq, Iran and North Korea the "axis of evil"

Some on The Radical Left was upset at Bush for saying that!

Well, Saddam Hussein is gone, so now it's just Iran and North Korea!

Some felt the Barack Obama's smooth words would pacify the dictators of Iran and North Korea!

THAT IS NOT HAPPENING!

While the people who live in Iran and North Korea have the same hopes, dreams and aspirations as the rest of the world, those who run their governments are truly evil!

Only the mega-naive would disagree!

1) Iran had an "election"! Actually, the candidates are handpicked by the ruling elite!

No chance of a Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter or a Barack Obama coming out of obscurity, bringing new ideas and captivating the nation into victory!

Instead, the ruling elites only allow those already within the power structure to run!

And even then, they picked the winners!

The incumbent was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an ultra-conservative nutcase who believes in forcing his ultra-conservative version of Islam on the masses, and threatens to destabilize nearby democracies like Iraq, Lebanon and Israel!

While he goes on to threaten nuclear annihilation of Isreal, the economy of Iran is going down! While it relies on oil export, there isn't much of a free market economy there!

So the people were mobilizing to vote Ahmadinejad out of office! They knew the other candidates weren't the most ideal, but screw it, let's try someone else!

Yet, it was announced Ahmadinejad won 62% of the vote only hours after the polls closed!

That sounds like voter fraud!

They main opposition candidate was Mir Hossein Mousavi! While he was part of the Iran's power structure for a long time, he sensed opportunity in all this!

While the people on the streets are angry about the election fraud, Mousavi announced that he was with them and not with the ruling elite!

Mousavi, a former insider, is now risking his life to openly side with the protesters!

Now, Iran's government is using extremely violent tactics against the protesters!

If the level of brutality in Iran reaches to the level of what happened in China's Tiannanmen Square 20 years ago, that will tell you something!

This government can't be trusted with nuclear weapons!

If the government of Iran is brutalizing protesters out in the streets and torturing them in prisons, what's going to stop them from nuking Israel, or selling nukes to terrorist groups?

2) Some said Obama's words in this issue isn't tough enough!

Some even accuse him of coddling Iran's rulers!

Look, anyone with a brain should understand that President Obama sympathizes with the protesters! He isn't happy with the way Iran's government is handling all this!

However, he didn't want to spend much time talking on this issue, or else the government would accuse the protesters of being the "puppets of the Great Satan"!

Obama felt if he talked too much, that Iran would portray the protesters as a US/UK/Israel conspiracy to destabilize Iran! That Iran would portray the protesters as "taking orders from foreigners"!

I think Obama should say something along the lines of "These protesters aren't about making Iran submissive to the US, the UK or Israel, it is about basic human rights every human being deserves! It is about allowing the people of Iran choose their leaders and their right to publicly express their grievances"

The people of Iran know Obama isn't a traditional Western leader out to colonize the non-whites! In fact, his dad was a Muslim non-white from a former British colony! They know Obama isn't out to colonize Iran into being an American puppet!

So Obama already has more leverage than the previous presidents! He could use that to emphasize that the protests aren't some "Western conspiracy to destabilize a Muslim country"!

3) North Korea is testing it's nuclear weaponry, bringing fears that those nukes could hit Hawaii!

The dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, isn't a " misunderstood leader with legit grievances", he's one of the worst human rights abusers in the world! Massive torture, lack of basic freedoms, lack of a market economy has made North Korea a hell-hole many try to escape!

While South Korea is one of the world's richest countries, North Korea is one of the poorest!

But North Korea got nukes, and is feeling really jealous of South Korea! But instead of freeing his people and freeing it's economy to be more innovative, he wants to destroy South Korea! It's easier to destroy than build!

But how would he deter the USA from defending South Korea? Nuke the USA first!

That's why everyone should be worried, especially here in Hawaii!

Some say "we don't need a missile defense system, there were no missiles used in 9/11"

Yeah, but that's only because bin Laden didn't have nukes! Kim Jong Il does!

Either everyone in America gets serious about missile defense or Hawaii would become another Hiroshima, another Bikini Atoll!

4) John McCain once joked and sang "bomb, bomb Iran".

Now some on the Radical Left are calling him a hypocrite for now expressing sympathy with Iran's protesters!

They said "if McCain bombed Iran, he would've killed the people he claimed to support"

I would like to ask those people "How did we liberate Germany? How did we liberate Japan?"

We bombed their countries into surrender! We didn't ask for understanding from Hitler or Tojo? They were serious nutcases and the worst bullies on the world stage! They only understood violent force and we used it on them to stop them!

After bombing those countries into surrender, we rebuilt those countries and now they're among the world's most freedom-having, prosperous people! They're no longer a threat to us or their neighbors!


5) Now that we went over the problems with the rulers of Iran and North Korea, aren't we glad Saddam Hussein is out of the way?

Stabilizing Iraq was a bigger struggle than George W. Bush expected. But while things in Iraq are nowhere near perfect, it is way better than it was a few years ago!

So on the Axis of Evil, it's 1 down, 2 to go!

The situation of Iran is still on-going! It could worse or better!

But we can't trust the leaders of Iran and North Korea to be nice! We got to be prepared!